Snow White
by Cookie-Lollie
Summary: "Hair as white as snow, eyes as green as grass, and skin as pale as porcelain." The Crown Princess was blessed by mana and cherished dearly by the spirits and citizens of Clover Kingdom alike. An enigma at its finest, one who was wanted to see all the magic in the world and cared little of one's birth or magic. Being a Magic Knight was better than the crown in Alma's opinion.
1. The Tale of Snow White

In his eighth year of reign, King Augustus Julius Kira Clover XIII of Clover Kingdom announced the next heir to the throne as his opening speech to welcome the celebrations for the Spring Solstice. The Royal Capital celebrated the birth of the crown princess with a morning parade headed by William Vangeance, who ended the parade by creating the now famed World Tree, Yggdrasil in the center of the Crown Princess's courtyard. Despite its appearance of a sturdy oak tree, it blossomed with flowers that bore ripening fruits of apples, peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, and persimmons. Accompanying the morning parade was an evening festival that was overlooked by Fuegoleon Vermillion, which featured a performance of his famed control over his fire magic.

 _Alma_ , the Spirited Soul.

Accompanying the dawn of the Crown Princess's first birthday was an unprecedented April shower that rained down softly glowing balls of light, which gently dispersed throughout the three regions of Clover Kingdom like the scattering seeds of a dandelion. Magic Knights from all nine squads were sent on a number of missions to investigate the strange phenomenon and ensure the safety and security of the kingdom. While the April shower was later linked to a groundbreaking harvest in the Common Realm and Forsaken Realm, where farming was most common. In the end, the Magic Emperor declared that the April shower had done no visible harm and that the Magic Knights would continue to investigate the phenomenon until its cause was ascertained.

 _Astra_ , to the stars.

On the Crown Princess's third birthday, it was a relatively uneventful event. There was a customary parade that was led by the Royal Guards, the ceremonial guards that were tasked with the leading procession. Nobles used the parade to display their wealth while artisans and craftsmen used it as an opportunity to openly advertise their skillfulness and mastery at their chosen craft. A second parade took place in the Common Realm during the night and at the highlight of the parade, where several commoners with fire magic shot off fireballs to light up the night sky. It was to the astonishment of all who were attending the parade the night that the night sky had a new constellation, a cluster of stars that was ironically arranged to form a four-pointed star.

 _Aurora_ , the Lightest Dusk.

Dusk arrived along with a brilliant light show of golden and silvery-green lights. That night, the entire kingdom gazed upon the aurora in wonder. Anyone with an ounce of magic within them could sense the sheer density of mana that was gathered within the aurora. Some thought that it was a foreshadowing of the power which the Crown Princess would later come to wield. As with the April shower, Magic Knights were deployed to investigate the aurora due to the cluster of mana that was contained within its colorful lights, but it was a slow investigation as no one had Light Magic. Similarly, the Magic Emperor announced that it was an unusual phenomenon but one that could possibly occur in areas with a high mana density or spontaneously as was the case when dungeons emerged.

Some of the more superstitious people claimed that it was a sign that the Crown Princess was blessed by mana and dearly loved by the Spirits, elusive beings of pure magic that all but vanished after the death of the first Magic Emperor. The theory gained credibility when the Crown Princess's name was officially announced on her first birthday as the royal tradition for heirs. That day, the Noble Realm was filled with excitable celebrations as people raised their glasses to the Crown Princess, Alma Astra Aurora Faustus Clover.

 _Faustus_ , Auspicious Luck.

When the Crown Princess reached the age of five, the first display of magic she showcased was healing magic. While healing magic itself wasn't especially rare, it was an uncommon magic that branched into different magic bases. However, in the Crown Princess's case, her healing magic was light-based healing magic. Furthermore, healing magic drained one's mana at an exponential rate and required a significant amount of control over one's magic so most healing magic users were members of royalty or nobility.

 _Alma Astra Aurora Faustus Clover,_ blessed by mana and cherished dearly by the spirits and the citizens of Clover Kingdom alike.

Only a select few had ever seen the Crown Princess other than King Augustus, the Magic Emperor, and the Crown Princess's handpicked wet nurses and handmaidens in-training. As the captains of the nine Magic Knight squads were summoned by the Magic Emperor to be introduced to the Crown Princess at her whimsical request, it caused a wildfire of rumors to spread throughout the kingdom.

" _Hair as white as snow, eyes as green as emeralds, and skin as pale as porcelains,"_ spread throughout the kingdom and the Crown Princess eventually became known as Snow White from her light magic just as much as her hair.


	2. Enigma

The Crown Princess was an enigma that no one had a chance to understand. She seemed to behave as any five-year-old would, along with an endearing tendency to adamantly refer to people only by nicknames she created for them. At first glance, she simply appeared to hop from one interest to another as children were wont to do, yet at a closer look, she was actually familiarizing herself with everything and anything she could. She was a voracious learner and spent just as much time in the Royal Library devouring books in her freedom as she did in the training grounds, pestering anyone with an ear to train her in unarmed combat or with the sword.

The Crown Princess was an enigma that no one could ever hope to understand. She seemed to behave as any five-year-old would, especially with her endearing tendency to adamantly refer to people only by the nicknames she would create for them. She loved to play harmless pranks on any unsuspecting visitors to Clover Castle—mostly lower ranked Junior Magic Knights who were visiting the castle for the first time.

Yet, the charisma she would display from time to time, in which she would have her playmates from the Silva House and Vermillion House unconsciously straighten up, bellied her young age. The Crown Princess possessed the charisma of a natural-born leader that people claimed only royalty could hope to display and caused people to unconsciously gravitate towards her. Her mana pool was so large that it made the amount of mana her playmates possessed seem insignificant despite also being members of royalty.

The Crown Princess was a voracious learner who wanted to know all there was to know in the world. As a result, she spent all her free time in the Royal Library devouring book after book at an alarming speed or in the training grounds pestering members of the Royal Castle Knights Squad to give her a lesson on hand-to-hand combat or swordsmanship. Much to the Royal Tutor's chagrin, the Crown Princess was just as much of a maniac for magic as the Magic Emperor was, if not more.

That the Crown Princess was a magic maniac wouldn't have been as much of an issue as the Royal Tutor liked to make it if it wasn't for the fact that the Crown Princess tended skip her lessons to join the Magic Emperor, who didn't mind his little tag-along to his own escapades from his work. Some people, namely Marx Francois, liked to complain that the Magic Emperor and the Crown Princess were like peas in a pod and was on a hopeless endeavor to separate the two, lest the Magic Emperor infect the Crown Princess with his migraine-inducing habit of ditching his duties in favor of scouting out any interesting magic or new and promising Magic Knights.

Between the aforementioned two however, they both knew it was a lost cause as the Crown Princess was determined to avoid her studies just as much as the Magic Emperor was to avoid his work as the pair would much rather chase after a new and interesting type of magic. In fact, the two meshed together easily despite their age difference since the Magic Emperor finally had the chance to acquaintance himself with the rare light magic up close and personal while the Crown Princess had the opportunity to learn about more obscure magic that the books in the Royal Library didn't cover and stories of how magic could be used from the Magic Emperor's personal experiences. Few had any objection to the pair's infuriating avoidance of their studies and duties as the Crown Princess had taught herself all the lessons she needed from the Royal Library and the Royal Tutor only needed to fill in the gaps, such as royal etiquette, ballroom dancing, and so forth. In fact, some were pleased as in a way, it could be perceived as the Crown Princess receiving personal magic lessons from the Magic Emperor himself, which actually wasn't too far off.

* * *

"Hey, Julie?" she asked. "Why is it that the kingdom is so segregated even though the Magic Knights have commoners and peasants?" She was resting atop of a bed of light, floating gently in the air above Julius. She had a mulish expression, unable to understand why the kingdom was so cleanly split into three realms based on one's capacity of mana.

"That's a difficult question to answer, your Highness." Julius set his quill down from the latest batch of missions he was going to assign to different squads.

"I told you before, stop calling me that. I have a name so use it. It's so stuffy being called ' _your Highness_ ' and having people bow to you all the time," she said, rolling her eyes in the process. She floated down so that she was eye-level with Julius, her face scrunched up in a pout.

"Alright, Alma. To be frank, the idea that people with a smaller capacity for mana means they are inferior to those who have a larger capacity is so deeply rooted in nobility and royalty. Even if your father decided that segregation is suddenly a bad thing, there's little he could do about it unless the nobility and royalty suddenly had a change of heart as well."

Alma frowned. "It's so dumb though. We all bleed the same blood, yet people like to preach about how nobility are somehow better than commoners and peasants."

Julius chuckled at her response. "And that's why so many people want you to be more ambitious and take the crown sooner."

Alma shuddered and floated away at that. "I keep telling you guys this, but I don't want the crown. I want to be a Magic Knight. I want to explore dungeons and uncover the reality of those so-called myths."

Julius nodded sagely. "Elves, right? There's no evidence that they didn't exist, but there also isn't any saying that they did either."

Alma shook her head in disagreement. "I don't know, and I don't care. It's just a feeling. I _know_ they existed, and I want to know why they went extinct. Elves have a higher compatibility with mana and could use their magic to a greater extent than we can as humans, so how did such a race suddenly die out?"

"So, you want to know what could have wiped out these elves? You're much more chivalrous than you want people to know, Princess." Julius said teasingly.

Alma rolled her eyes but didn't bother denying him. She floated down and gently reached the ground as her bed of light dispersed. She sat down on the ground and leaned against Julius's desk, pulling her knees up to her chest. With her hands over her knees, she rested her head and sighed. "Julius . . ." she began in a hesitant tone. "If I said I wanted to run away to the Forsaken Realm until the Magic Knights exam, would you stop me?"

Julius leaned back into his chair. "We both know your father would try and stop you," he said without hesitation. "He can try all he wants but we all know that no one can catch up to you unless you want them to with your magic."

"I know. He just wants to keep me around until he finds the best marriage proposal, probably to Spade Kingdom so that he can lounge around in even more luxury."

"Seven years is a long time though."

"I know. It's almost time for the harvest season, so I think I'll pack up some seeds to plant for next season."

"I'll ask William to make some nice seeds for you."

"Lili does make the best seeds. But knowing him, you'd have to beg him for those seeds." Alma said wryly. She paused for a moment, and the corners of her lips twitched. "I still wish he would give me another seed for Yggdrasil though. He made that tree for me, so shouldn't I be able to decide where another one should go?"

Julius laughed at that. Alma joined him and basked in the comforting knowledge that Julius hadn't said that he would do anything about stopping her. She was only eight, but they both knew that she knew how to look after herself. They never acknowledged it, but Julius was more of a father to her than the King ever was and ever could be.


	3. Long Gone

" **Is Alma Asta a girl" –Guest  
Alma's full name is a mouthful, I know. Alma Astra Aurora Faustus Clover. **_**Astra**_ **is Latin for stars and is by no means connected to Asta's name.**

When Yami and Finral arrived at Clover Castle to pick up the next batch of missions to give out to the rest of the Black Bulls, it was to total chaos as the Royal Castle Knights Squad were running around the castle like ants piling out of a crushed ant hill. Yami ran his hand through his hair and let out a long-suffering sigh, exhaling a large puff of smoke. As one Royal Castle Knight came close to the two, Yami abruptly grabbed the man by the collar of his robe and lifted him off the ground with ease.

"What's going on, brat?" he asked in an even tone that promised a beating if he wasn't even an explanation.

The Royal Castle Knight, likely a new recruit, stuttered and saluted Yami before speaking. "The Crown Princess has gone missing! The King has ordered the Royal Castle Knight Squad to search the castle for the princess and any nearby Magic Knights are to prioritize finding the princess."

Yami brought his hand to massage his temple. "Have any of you idiots thought to check her room? Knowing the brat, she probably just decided to run away already and just left a note."

Finral nodded in agreement, rubbing his chin in thought. "That's true. Alma probably would've left when she was a little older if the King didn't suddenly announce his decision to start accepting marriage proposals for her."

The Royal Castle Knight went pale with dread. "No . . ." he said in a despairing voice. "We hadn't checked her room. Someone ran into the King's chamber to inform him of the princess's disappearance, so we hadn't thought to check her room."

Yami dropped the Royal Castle Knight, who fell to the ground on his bottom, at that statement. He glared darkly at the man until he got the signal and ran with his tail behind his legs. "They're all hopeless dumbasses."

Finral laughed a bit shakily. "Well, Captain . . . you're not wrong."

"Forget it. We still need to stop by the Magic Emperor's office to pick up the next mission assignments." At that, Yami began to nonchalantly walk in the direction to the Magic Emperor's office. Incoming Royal Castle Knights and maids had the sense to avoid Yami, who was in a foul mood from the idiocy that was the Royal Castle Knights Squad.

"Don't they normally just send it to us though? What's the occasion?"

Yami stopped in his steps, which made Finral almost bump into the man's back. Finral frowned and took a few steps back from Yami, who turned around to face Finral with a terrifying expression. "Transportation shouldn't be talking back."

Finral straightened up and nodded. Yami let out a puff of smoke and continued walking. The two eventually reached large oaken doors, which Yami immediately kicked open without a care. Finral said nothing, as he was used to Yami using brute force for everything he encountered.

"Yo _Julie_ ," Yami greeted. "What did you do this time?"

Julius laughed from behind his desk, setting his quill down and stretching back into his seat. "What makes you think I did anything?"

"That annoying princess wouldn't just up and leave the castle without talking to you first."

"Coming from the dear princess's favorite, I'll take that as a compliment."

Yami rolled his eyes. He walked over to Julius's desk where he kept an ash tray and smothered his cigarette. "Shut up and answer my question."

Julius was silent, a smug smile still tugging at his lips. He chuckled and opened one of the drawers to his desk and handed Yami a ripped-out page from a journal. Yami accepted the page and read it out loud for Finral to hear as well, who was leaning against the wall near the door.

 _Yahoo! I'll be long gone by the time you read this note!  
I should've ditched the castle a long time ago!  
You can blame that stupid king for thinking I'll just marry whoever he throws at me.  
I'm going to live out my own life for myself!  
I'll rejoin civilization when it's time for the Magic Knights Entrance Exams!  
Look forward to it, and don't miss me too much!  
—Alma _

"Who did the king want to marry the idiot princess to?" Yami asked.

Julius laughed darkly, and his eyes weren't smiling at all. It was a stark contrast from Julius's typical easy-going demeanor. Finral briefly wondered if that was how Julius would act as a father—doting, laid-back, and most of all, overprotective.

"The first prince of the Spade Kingdom, Nelson Millard Bartholomew Spade."

Yami immediately began to emit a dark aura, leaking out killing intent. His eyes were completely void and he had a malicious smirk. "There's at least a thirty-year difference between the pervert prince and the little shit."

Finral frowned at the news. "The first prince should be turning forty-three this year."

Julius's smile had a chilling edge to it while Yami didn't even bother hide the fact that he was ready to drag Finral over to the Spade Kingdom to gut the first prince. Finral wondered if he should tell him the latest scandal in the Spade Kingdom he picked up from his last visit to the Black Market with Vanessa.

Yami immediately homed in on Finral's hesitance. "Speak up!"

Finral sighed and prayed to the spirits that Yami wouldn't cause an international incident trying to brazenly assassinate Spade Kingdom's first prince. "The first prince is always caught up in a lot of scandals, but the latest was . . ." Finral trailed uncertainly. He looked up to Yami cracking his knuckles threateningly and quickly continued. "He was caught in bed with several girls from the slums, around Alma's age."

Julius waved a hand in front of Yami. "You can't just go off killing royalty from other kingdoms left and right."

"Oh? And what will the great Magic Emperor do?"

"Alma said that she wanted to stay in the Forsaken Realm. The Black Bulls Headquarters is at the outskirts of the Common Realm, right?"

What was left unspoken was that it was likely Alma would stop by the Black Bulls Headquarters before she left for the Forsaken Realm. It was a silent request to check in on Alma's well-being since, despite her maturity and alarming proficiency over his magic, she was still only eight years old.

Yami sighed and rubbed his head absentmindedly. "Heard you, loud and clear. Let's go, Finral."

Finral shook his head and summoned his grimoire, opening up a portal to the mess hall of their headquarters. "Didn't you say you were there to pick up the next batch of missions?"

Yami paused. "Ah. I forgot. Go back and pick them up."

Finral let out a complaining whine. "Eh?"

With a threatening glower from Yami, Finral reopened a new gate back into the Magic Emperor's office and gratefully accepted the stack of missions that Julius held out to him with a knowing look and an amused smile.

When Finral arrived back in the base, it was to Yami barking orders at Vanessa to prepare a room for a guest who would be coming, 'sooner or later', in his exact words. At that, the whole base erupted into excitable energy, wondering if Yami picked up another stray to accept into the squad. Yami left for his room, snatching the missions from Finral's arms on the way, neither denying nor confirming anyone's suspicions.


End file.
